The best thing in fantasy baseball is when you make a trade and wind up fleecing another owner because they didn't know as much. Too many people look for the quick fix and think a guy who's had an alright season and a great week will all of a sudden have a great season the rest of the way. That sometimes does work, but most of the time they'll wind up going back to their normal numbers and the owner will wind up worse than he was before the trade. That's what this article is here for; to help owners when it comes to buying and selling players. This installment of
MLB Buy ‘n Sell features six total players, three in each category. The three with the highest value of the week are in the sell category, while the three with the lower value are in the buy category. It's simple economics. Sell those who have high value and get more than you paid for, or buy those with the lower value in hopes they return to form. Hopefully this article will help those who routinely buy and sell players, or those that just need help refurbishing a roster.
Sell:
Alexei Ramirez (2B/SS/CF - Chicago White Sox) - Ramirez is making a very strong case for AL Rookie of the year. He really hasn't been mentioned as much as he should have, which isn't very fair because he's really had a terrific season. He does need to work on getting on base more, especially when it comes to taking walks. He strikes out a lot more than he walks, even though his strikeout numbers are very low, but his OBP still suffers. However, he has a nice blend of contact and power, plus decent speed. He has a chance to become even better and is a great type of player to own in keeper leagues. However, this article deals more with yearly leagues and Ramirez is a prime candidate to be sold. He had an absolutely amazing week, therefore his value hasn't been higher. He's finally opening eyes around baseball. Use that to your advantage and get something decent in return for him. He's good, but this week was extremely good. He drove in 25% of his RBI total, so this won't be the norm for him, yet.
8/23, 5 runs, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 0 SB, .348 AVG
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Barry Zito (SP - San Francisco Giants) - You know the end is near when Barry Zito becomes a useful fantasy player again. Ever since he signed his huge contract with the Giants he hasn't been good, at all. It looked like the worst free agent signing since Mike Hampton. However, he's quietly put together some quality starts as of late. This doesn't mean he's all of a sudden a good pitcher; this means that he's been a serviceable pitcher. There are some out there who do actually own him in deeper leagues, and this week Zito has actually been a very solid pitcher. However, it obviously won't last. He's no longer the Cy Young caliber pitcher in Oakland. He's the overpaid, over hyped, bust in San Fran. But enough of that. Zito has been terrific this week and deserves credit. He also deserves to be sold while he has any value. A desperate owner may be willing to deal for him. Take an offer if you can find it.
2 wins, 0 losses, 15 IP, 8 K, 1.80 ERA, 0.93 WHIP
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Ian Stewart (2B/3B - Colorado Rockies) - Warning -- this is only for those in year-to-year leagues. Stewart is a perfect sell high candidate for those who get new teams every year, but he is by no means a good sell candidate for those in keeper leagues. In fact, he's one of the best keeper league sleepers out there. I just wanted to make that clear. Anyway, for those who own him and are willing to sell, Stewart has had quite a week. However, he won't exactly get the playing time he deserves until next year, if they do trade Garret Atkins. Stewart has put up some great numbers this week, but the Rockies have a lot of young talent and it may be a bit difficult to give Stewart the proper playing time on a consistent basis. Therefore those who have the option could trade him for someone who can help out a bit more. He's a terrific young player though and his name will become a fixture in fantasy baseball as soon as he's a full time starter.
10/21, 4 runs, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 0 SB, .476 AVG
Buy:
Felix Hernandez (SP - Seattle Mariners) - Hernandez is a great buy low candidate. He got beat up by the White Sox and didn't even strike out a single batter. He also got hit in the ankle by a line drive, but he actually began pitching better after getting hit. Hernandez is a pitcher that can possibly be talked into being traded by an owner this week. He had a bad start, he got hit by a line drive, and he's on a horrible team. One could possibly convince another owner to sell him since those are three pretty big factors that involve him. However, even though he had a bad start he has had some amazing starts this year. He also doesn't expect to miss any time from being hit by a ball, so that shouldn't effect him much. Plus, he's been on a bad team all season long yet he's got a nice ERA and strikeout numbers. He probably won't put up many wins, but if he could go seven of eight innings, striking out eight guys, and giving up only one run for a no-decision, will anyone care that much? It's not his fault his team can't score any runs after all. If you can get him for cheap then do it.
0 wins, 1 loss, 5 IP, 0 K, 9.00 ERA, 2.80 WHIP
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Jimmy Rollins (SS - Philadelphia Phillies) - Rollins seems to like causing controversy. Last year he claimed the Phillies would win the NL East and he was right. This year he called Philadelphia fans "front-runners", and that seems pretty right to me. I'm not saying that to insult any Philly fan, I'm just merely saying that fans in Philly do generally expect a lot out of their players, as do most major city fans, such as New York. However, I don't think it was the smartest thing for him to do because it isn't exactly good PR. Sometimes it's better to just keep your mouth shut, but lately it seems that Rollins has played better when people are angry at him after he opens his mouth. When he went against the odds and said that Philly would win the NL East last year, he wound up winning the NL MVP. This is a bit more extreme though because he insulted his team's fan base, but who knows, I'm predicting that he'll break out of his slump and put up big numbers. It won't exactly be easy when fans boo him at every at bat, but I think he likes the attention. He hasn't been putting up good numbers lately, therefore those numbers and the fact that he made his fans mad could be a good way to pry him out of another owners' hands.
3/24, 3 runs, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB, .125 AVG
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Ben Sheets (SP - Milwaukee Brewers) - Sheets hasn't been that good since the All-Star break. At first glance someone may think that he's trying to do too much to compete with CC Sabathia, but that's not the case. Sheets normally is a better first half pitcher and doesn't have that great of a record in the second half. That's exactly why he's a great pick up now. In his last eight starts he's 1-5 with a 4.06 ERA. There's no way a guy as talented as Sheets could continue putting up that many losses in a row without having any decent games. Sheets has terrific stuff and seems like he may finally be over the injury bug (knock on wood). He is capable of putting up some very good numbers and it's about time he got out of his current slump. There's a chance he could be had for cheap, especially with the numbers he's had in his last eight starts, so pick him up if anyone is willing to deal him cheap.
0 wins, 1 loss, 6 IP, 7 K, 7.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP